Method of securing metallic strips



Jan. 27, 1925.

w. S/PRITCHARD METHOD OF SECURING MBTALLIC STRIPS Filed Sept. l0 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. S. PRITCHARD METHOD OF SECURING METALLIC STRIPS Filed p 1 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 WM w W Patented Jan. 27, 1925,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. PRITCHARD, O'F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO MOTOR PRODUCTS COR- PORATION, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF NEW'YORK.

METHOD OF SECURING METALLIC STRIPS.

Application filed September 10, 1920. Serial No. 409,453.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, rimmer S. Parrorr- ARD, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of lVayne and State of Michigan, have i11- vented certain new and useful Improve ments in Methods of Securing Metallic Strips, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to the method of securing metallic strips and has for its object the forming of a strip of uniform thickness and pliability comprising a plurality of metallic strips of short lengths secured end to end. Other objects of the invention reside in further features as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a ma chine for carrying out my method;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the clamping mechanism;

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation through the reel.

1 is the table of the machine for carrying out the method of securing metallic strips end to end and is mounted upon the standards 2. 3 is a laterally extending support upon one of the forward standards 2 and provided at its outer end with the transversely extending cylindrical rod 4 upon which the coils 5 of the metallic ribbon are sleeved. ,6 is a U-shaped guide pivotally mounted upon the support 3 and adapted to embrace the coil 5, the ribbon of which is being operated upon. This guide normally, rests upon the rod 4. 7 is a weighted arm having the bar 8 at its outer end to which the weight 9 is secured and to the inner end of which the parallel spaced bars 10 are secured, the inner ends of the latter being pivotally mounted upon the support 3 and connected thereto by the same pivot that connects the: inner end of the guide 6 to the support. 11 is a roll pivotally mounted between the parallel spaced arms 10 near their upper ends and adapted to rest upon the coil 5, the metallic strip leaving this coil passing beneath. 12 and 13 are pairs of cooperating rolls mounted upon the supports 14; and 15 respectively on the table 1 near its forward end, these rolls being adapted to tension as well as guide the metallic strip in passing to the clamping mechanism which comoriscs the spaced clamps 16 and 17 mounted upon the base 19 upon the table 1. These clamps have side flanges 18 for guiding the strip and each of the upper clamping members 20 of these clamps is adapted to be vertically raised and lowered by means of a hand lever 21 which is pivotally mounted upon an arm 22 secured to its respectivelower clamping member and having the eccentric slot 23 therein which engages the pin 2% at the upper end of the upper clamping member.

In securing the metallic strips of the coils 5 to each other, one strip is passed through the guideand tension rolls 12 and 13 and the clamps 16 and 17 until its rear end has passed through the forward clamp 16, when the clamp 17 is actuated to tightly grip this strip. The succeeding strip is then passed through the guide and tension rolls and through the forward clamp 16 with its forward end adjacent the rearward clamp 17 so that the adjacent end portions of the two metallic strips overlap each other. The forward clamp 16 is then operated by its hand lever 21 to firmly grip the lastmentioned strip.

The next operation consists in cutting the overlapping end portions of the strip and preferably at an angle to the longitudinal axes of these strips. This is accomplished by means of the shears 25, the upper shearing member of which is operated by means of the hand lever 26. These shears when not in operation are removed from the path of travel of the metallic strips and occupy the position shown by the dotted lines 27 in Figure 1. To move the same into operative position as shown by the full lines in this figure, they are longitudinally slid into place and extend atrthe desired angle to the longitudinal axes of the strips."

After the adjacent ends of the strips have been cut at an angle to their longitudinal axes, the ends of the strips are drawn apart to produce a gap therebetween sufficient to compensate for the expansion of the metal and for the solder which secures the same to each other. This gap is preferably predetermined and as shown is produced by 7 such as the torch 28, which is universally mounted upon the table 1 and is adapted to occupy'the position between the clamps 1,6: and 17 as shown by the dotted circular line 29. Hard solderis then applied to the adjacent endsof the strips to-secure the same to each other.

For the purpose of flattening the joint between these strips, there is a clamp which, is. movable transversely of the me.-

tallic strips and between the clamps 1 6 and 17. Thisclamp, as shown in Figures and 4, comprises the upper and lower jaws 31 and 32, respectively,- which are pivotally mounted at. their rear ends upon the plate 33 longitudinally slidably mounted in the support 34 and actuated by the lever 35 pivoted; at its. lower end to thesupport 34 andhaving the elongated aperture 36 through which, extends the pin 37 which is secured to the plate 33 and extends between the body portions of the jaws 31 and 32. For moving the-upper and lower jaws 31 and 32 toward each other in order to clamp the opposite sides of the joint between the strips whenthe j ,aws are moved; inwardly, they are provided with the slots 38 having the parallel portions 39andv the diverging portions 40. These slots are engaged in by pins4il fixedly'secured to the support 34; Thus,

s after the brazing operation, the joint 18 tightly grippedtofiatten the-same by means of. swin 'ing the handle lever 35 toward the front side of the machine when, the jaws will occupy the position; shown by the dotted line 42 inFigure 1.

After the flattening operation has taken place, the strips pass toward the rear end of the machine through the-pair of cooperating guide rolls 43 and the joint is annealed to make the same pliable to run through. the machine without breaking when being bent. This joint, in annealing, is first heated to a temperature of approximately 900 Fahrenheit by the torch 28, which is adjustable to occupy the position as shown by tl'iecircular dotted line 441 in Figure 1, after which the joint is dipped in, water contained. in the tank45 upon the table 1. After removing the joint from the tank 45, the lower and upper faces of the joint are held in contact with the-polishing wheel-46 driven from; the motor 47, which polishing wheel finishes the faces-offthejointand makes the same conintermediate which is located the tank 50 transversely slidably mounted upon the base 51 secured to the table 1. For cleaning the joint it. is dipped into one of the compartments of the tank containing suitable cleaning acid such as muriatic acid and then dipped into the other com mrtment of the tank 50 containing water to remove the muriatic acid, the tank 50 being transversely adjusted intermediate these last two steps. After passing through the pair of cooperating guide rolls 49', the strip is passed between the cooperating bufl ing wheels 52, both of, which are vertically adjustable by means ofright and left hand screws, in. order to maintain a permanent relation with the center line of travel of the copper ribbon, These buffing wheels are suitably driven from the motor 53, which is mounted upon the table 1. From the bufiing wheels, the metallic strip passes through the pairs of cooperating tension rolls 53 and to the reel 54 upon which it iscoiled, the tension rolls being provided, to produce a uniform tension upon the strip while being coiled.

As shown in Figure 2, the jointed portion of the strip occupies the positions shown by the full lines, and after the different operations have been performed and during the timethejointed strip is being reeled at the rear end of the machine, the strip occupies the positions shown by the dotted lines between the pairs of guide and tension, rolls 13 and 49.

The reel, as shown, comprises the annular flanges-55 which are spaced from each other and mounted upon the hub 56 in turn rotatably mounted upon thespindle 57 secured to and, extending transversely of the upper end of the standard 58. This standard is carried. upon the truck59, which is provided with positioning u jn'ights 60 having slotted upper ends through which extend the positioning rodsGl nv otally mounted upon the rear standards 2. ll or rotating the reel 54 there is a friction drive wheel 62. which is adaptedto engage the periphery of one of the flanges illldl is driven by means of. the motor-driven wheel 63 engaging its pcriphery. 64 is a brakeadnpted to engage the periphery of the driving flange 5?, this brake being normally held in engagement wit-lithe periphery by means of the compression coil spring 65ibetween adjacent ends of" therod66 pivotally securedto the brake and the rod 67 pivotally secured to one of the rear standards 2, there being a sleeve GSsurrounding adjacent ends of these rods and also the coil spring.

69 is a foot lever connected. torthebrake 64 by means of the rod 70 for releasing the lili lllll llll brake from engagement with the reel. In order that the portion of the metallic strip between the tension rolls and the reel be constantly under tension, the brake 64: forms the support for the friction drive wheel 62 and the axis of its pivot registers with the axis of the shaft for the motor-driven wheel 63, the arrangement being such that the release of the brake engages the friction drive wheel 62 with the driving flange of the reel and on the other hand the release of the friction drive wheel re-engages the brake.

From the above description it will be readily seen that I have devised a simple method for forming a metallic strip comprising a series of metallic strips of shorter lengths. Furthermore, the method produces a strip which has a continuous flat surface side and is pliable throughout its length. Another very important consideration is that the method is such that it may be carried out in a machine of comparatively short length.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The method of securing metallic strips,

comprising the successive steps of clamping the strips with overlapping ends, simultaneously cutting the overlapping ends, separating the ends, heating and brazing the same, and clamping the joint while cooling.

2. The method of securing metallic strips, comprising the successive steps of clamping the strips with overlapping ends, simultaneously cutting the overlapping ends at an angle to their longitudinal axes, separating the ends, applying a flux thereto and heating and brazing the same, clamping the joint while cooling, and subsequently annealing the joint.

3. The method of securing metallic strips which comprises the overlapping thereof, the simultaneously cutting of the overlapping portions, and the integrating of the adjacent ends.

4:. The method of securing metallic strips which comprises the overlapping thereof, the simultaneously cutting of the overlap ping portions, the integrating of the adjacent ends, and the annealing of the joint.

5. In the method of securing metallic strips the steps of positioning ends of successive separate strips adjacent to each other, the integrating of the adjacent ends and the annealing of the joint.

6. The method of securing metallic strips, comprising the clamping thereof with overlapping ends, the cutting of the overlapping ends, the separating of the ends and then the soldering of the ends.

7. The method of securing metallic strips, comprising the successive steps of clamping the strips with overlapping ends, simultaneously cutting the overlapping ends, separating the ends, brazing the ends and annealin and cleaning the joint.

8. T is method of securing metallic strips, comprising the successive steps of clamping the strips in alignment with each other and with overlapping ends, simultaneously cutting the overlapping ends, separating the ends, heating and brazing the ends, annealing the joint, polishing the sides of the joint, Washing the joint with acid, and subsequently washing the joint with water.

9. The method of securing metallic strips, comprising the clamping of the strips with overlapping ends, the successive steps of cutting the overlapping ends, separating the ends, soldering the ends, annealing the joint, cleaning the joint, and reeling the secured strips under substantially constant tension.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM S. PRITCHARD. 

